Sure Fire Soul Ensemble and Amplified collaborate on beer

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble and Amplified Ale Works have teamed up on a collaborative beer. The Amplified Soundcheck Sure Fire Rye IPA is now available for limited release on tap at its Miramar and Pacific Beach tap rooms. The beer came about through a friendship between Amplified head brewer Cy Henley and Sure Fire drummer Pete Williams, and as a fan of the band's music, Henley said he was enthusiastic about finding a way for the two to collaborate on something cross promotional.

"With our Soundcheck series, we want to do more with local bands," he said. "I want people to discover new styles of music, as well as new types of beer."

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble keyboardist and bandleader Tim Felten said that everyone in the band is a beer drinker, so it felt like a natural partnership. However, he also said it was almost everyone's first time being involved in the brewing process.

"I learned that beer's ready a lot faster than I think," he said. "It was my first time in the back of a tasting room, and I was able to see how it was done."

While curious beer drinkers can have a sip of the hoppy rye IPA now, the release party will be held at Panama 66 on September 4, with a live set from Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. (Felten says they'll be debuting a few new songs.) And while there's no direct correlation between the beer's flavor and the band's music, Henley says that they're both representative of the city in general.

"We wanted to do a hoppy IPA," he says. "It just represents San Diego."